- The Sages’ visit to Rebbe Eliezer on his deathbed
When Rebbe Eliezer fell ill, Rebbe Akiva and his colleagues came to visit him, and sat four amos away (because Rebbe Eliezer had been excommunicated in the incident of תנור של עכנאי). He asked why they came, and they responded, “to learn Torah.” He asked why they had not come until now, and they replied they did have a chance. He said: תמיה אני אם ימותו מיתת עצמן – I would be astonished if they (the Sages) would die their own death. Rebbe Akiva asked about himself, and Rebbe Eliezer said his death would be worse than theirs. Rebbe Eliezer placed his arms on his heart, and said: אוי לכם שתי זרועותיי – Woe to you, my two arms, שהן כשתי ספרי תורה שנגללין – which are like two Torah scrolls which are being rolled up (i.e., my Torah will be inaccessible after my passing). הרבה תורה למדתי – I learned much Torah, but did not decrease the difference between my teachers’ knowledge and mine even as much as a dog lapping from the sea. הרבה תורה לימדתי – I taught much Torah, and my students only decreased the difference between their knowledge and mine as much as an applicator in a tube of eye-makeup. He described some of the Torah he had yet to teach.
- Rebbe Eliezer’s passing
The Sages asked Rebbe Eliezer two questions regarding the laws of tumah, to see if he had retracted from his disputes with the Chochomim in those cases. He repeated his original positions, and after his second reply, “It is tahor,” יצאה נשמתו בטהרה – his soul went up in purity. Rebbe Yehoshua stood on his feet and declared, "הותר הנדר הותר הנדר" – the vow (of נידוי) is annulled, the vow is annulled!”
After Shabbos, Rebbe Akiva met the funeral procession going from קיסרי to לוד, and was striking his flesh until his blood flowed to the ground (Tosafos explains this did not transgress making a שרט לנפש – a cut for the dead, because Rebbe Akiva was mourning the Torah knowledge lost [as below], not Rebbe Eliezer’s soul). Rebbe Akiva opened his hesped for Rebbe Eliezer in the funeral line, saying: אבי אבי רכב ישראל ופרשיו – “My father, my father, chariot of Yisroel and its horsemen! הרבה מעות יש לי – I have much money, ואין לי שולחני להרצותן – but I have no moneychanger to present it to (i.e., I have many questions, but no one to ask)!”
- A boy can become a בן סורר ומורה for a short time after becoming an adult, but not a קטן
The eighth Perek begins with the law of בן סורר ומורה – a wayward and rebellious son, which applies to a boy for a short time after he reaches adulthood. The word "בן" excludes a daughter, and איש – a man, i.e., a more developed adult. A קטן is exempt from this law, שלא בא לכלל מצות – because he has not entered the category of mitzvos. The Gemara asks for a source that a קטן is exempt, and objects that our Mishnah gave the reason above, and moreover, where is a קטן ever punished that a source is necessary to exempt him here? The Gemara explains: אטו בן סורר ומורה על חטאו נהרג – is a בן סורר ומורה killed for his sin (thus excluding a קטן)? על שם סופו נהרג – He is killed because of his eventual actions (i.e., he will ultimately come to murder), and can apply even to a קטן. Furthermore, the Mishnah’s derashah of "בן" excluding a “man” should include even a קטן!? Rav answers that the words "לאיש בן" in the passuk are read together, to teach בן הסמוך לגבורתו של איש – a son who is close to a man’s strength, i.e., just after reaching adulthood.
